


To Those Lost

by lesbianjanecrocker (fumiko6)



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternia, F/F, Hemospectrum Shift, Implied/Referenced Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-23
Updated: 2020-04-23
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:14:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23786125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fumiko6/pseuds/lesbianjanecrocker
Summary: Ladystuck 2020 gift for tumblr user love-cherryscotchPrompt: mutant feferi and violet aradia opening up to each other (bloodswap au)Featuring nautical adventures, sea monsters, and cameos from our favorite trolls...
Relationships: Aradia Megido/Feferi Peixes
Kudos: 7
Collections: Ladystuck Art/Fic Exchange 2020





	To Those Lost

Life after death is not so bad, all things considered.

Somewhere under the oceans, another civil war is brewing, another pointless strife among groups of highbloods for some dubious segment of surface and sea. Elsewhere, the Murderer and the Assassin are facing off in their sweeps-long struggle, plotting, well, murder and assassination. And beneath it all, there lie horrors untold, secrets that keep the planet of Alternia alive, facts that would undermine troll reality if they were known. You are free from it all, and for that you consider yourself fortunate.

Based on the standard troll actuarial tables, 40% of trolls of your blood type and age are deceased. Thus, you did not turn out so much worse than the median troll to have lived for so long. But you count yourself among the lucky ones; no one could see what you have seen and still desire to keep on living.

"Hey, what are you doing here? You look terrible!"

Someone is calling out to you from a ship, her voice betraying none of the fear that lowbloods would normally show to highbloods such as yourself. Then again, you must not look like a threat in your current state, lying on your back in the water, your translucent body wrapped in rags and stained with viscera, without any strife specibi.

"Nothing's wrong," you reply. "I have something to do. Please just leave me alone."

"You certainly don't look alright! What's wrong with your eyes?"

"What's wrong with yours?" You have floated close enough to see her red sclera, dangerously unconcealed, and the forbidden gray symbol adorning the center of her colorful dress.

For some reason she laughs. "You didn't answer my question."

"I'm dead!" You try to smile, as if it were a joke. "I'm a ghost and I'm haunting Alternia looking for revenge on the one who murdered me!"

"Oh. Okay. Well, may I help you on your haunting mission?"

"Sure, I suppose."

You have no idea why she offered help, but perhaps it's better to not look a gift hoofbeast in the mouth.

"Then come on board!"

* * *

Her name is Feferi, you find out eventually. You eventually tell her that your name is Aradia.

The ship is a floating hive, a contraption crafted by one of Feferi's now-deceased friends (all her friends are dead, was one of the first things she told you). It has an utilitarian exterior, a ship painted with gray and blue stripes and a barely adorned rectangular cabin, concealing a dangerous array of capabilities. Its bloodpusher is a nuclear reactor, and its claws are lasers and torpedoes, not to mention that it is capable of becoming undetectable to the ocular senses for a short time. All in all, a rather safe craft for evading the Empire's grasp, even if not exactly equal to the Murderer's retinue.

The sea is empty, dark, and calm. Nothing is visible on the horizons save more water. 

"Are we anywhere closer to where you wanted to go?", Feferi asks.

"Maybe."

"Really?"

"I don't know."

"Oh man, why did I take you in the first place?"

"Why did you?"

Feferi does not answer. You are prowling the bow of the ship, hovering from one side to the other. Feferi watches from a stool, toying with her unruly hair, looking at you more than anything else. You don't see how you're so interesting, besides the whole "ghost" thing which is probably becoming tiresome already. But then again, it is not as if there is anything else do do here.

"Who is this 'Murderer' character to you, anyway?", Feferi asks, after a long silence has passed.

"She was my kismesis."

Feferi sighs. "Have you ever considered that being in quadrants with someone called the Murderer might be a bad idea?"

"Yes. I have considered that."

"Obviously you didn't consider it for long enough."

A pause. "What do you know of such things?", you say, not exactly as a question.

"More than you think. I've seen my friends killed by people like that."

"So why are you still letting me guide you?"

Dawn is beginning to break. Even ghosts cannot stand the sun. You cannot sleep anymore, or even rest, so you keep watch from inside the cabin as Feferi sleeps in her bedroom. It's not boring at all.

* * *

"Why did you take me in the first place?", you ask not long after the sun has set again and the two of you have emerged back outside. She has set up a table and is slicing open some fresh fish that she caught last night. You have no need to eat, and you do not particularly miss the taste or smell of fish.

"I was lonely and saw someone just appear right here," Feferi replies. "What else should I have done?"

"Run away."

"You don't get it. All my friends have been culled so I've been running this whole time. Maybe I wanted to do something besides run away? Besides, don't you enjoy it here? At least a little?"

"I do enjoy it."

"That's nice to hear, but..." Feferi stares in your direction. "I don't see you smiling or anything."

"Life is too short to waste time smiling."

Feferi doesn't seem to understand your joke, but to be fair you didn't either. The ship goes silent.

The ship is steaming forward, following the path you knew from memory. Beneath the placid waters, the ocean is deeper here, where countless feral lusii reside, and worse creatures rise from the trenches below. In the day, a pack of flying fish attempted to attack the ship, leaping from the water and instantly being vaporized by the automated lasers. It is safer after the sun has set, but in the distance the water erupts in sporadic bubbles and bursts. You are still nowhere near where you need to be.

"Why are we looking for the Murderer anyways?", Feferi asks. "I'm not really in the mood to get murdered."

"She might spare you if you're nice enough."

"Really?"

"No. But she might be slower to cull you. Or quicker."

"Hmm. Which do you think is better?"

You shrug. "I don't remember exactly how I went. But it'll be fine either way."

"Fine?" Feferi laughs. "For you maybe."

* * *

Not much conversation passes between the two of you on most nights. The ship cruises through miraculously calm waters, as if stilled by some entity deep beneath. She spends days fishing and cooking and eating, while you are content to pace around the boat. It is not a large space, with few new sights, but the tendency towards boredom has somehow dissipated since your death. Sometimes she comments on some new fish that she caught, or some observation about the clouds. You make some perfunctory remarks, and she smiles. There is little deep or probing discussion, and perhaps you would like to keep it that way.

After some nights of travel, the Murderer's floating base is in sight. It is another calm, cloudless night, like the ones you've encountered so much after embarking on this journey. The base is an ugly thing, a jumble of gray and brown metal sheets twisted at all angles, with protruding turrets and spikes haphazardly jutting out, and a small fleet of flying drones patrolling all around. Fuchsia-colored flags wave from the spires.

Feferi's floating hive is invisible as it inches closer. You and Feferi watch from inside the cabin.

"You didn't tell me you were the heiress's kismesis!", she mutters.

"I thought you would guess."

Feferi frowns. "So you wanted to just walk in and have a chat? Why do you think she'd agree?"

You shrug. "I thought maybe we could laser her to death if she tried anything."

"Fight the heiress? I knew it was coming soon, but I didn't want to die quite yet."

"I can go by myself."

Feferi shakes her head. "No. It's not safe. Whatever you do, I have to go with you."

"I'm already dead. What's the worst that could happen?"

"A lot could happen! You might die again, for real this time." She sighs. "Fine. We'll go confront the Murderer together. If I die it's your fault."

A craft emerges from the base, a small and sleek boat bearing the fuchsia flag. It bears towards you.

"They know we're here. I'll go out to meet them. You can stay inside the ship and get out."

Feferi looks at you as if you were going mad. "Um, no? Didn't I just say that I wouldn't abandon you?"

"Yes, but that would be a rational course of action."

She sighs, and places her hand on yours. "Well, call it irrational if you'd like."

The ship turns visible. The opposing craft closes. You exit the cabin, Feferi following. The Murderer sees you, and you see her for the first time with new eyes.

* * *

"Aradia!", the Murderer cries out. "Why are you here? I thought I'd done you a favor."

It is only now that you realize the physical resemblance between her and Feferi. Both have long, unruly black hair, loosely worn in a messy cascade. They both wear glasses, Feferi's red-framed and the Murderer's black. They are about the same height and have the same chubby body shape, with similar multi-colored dresses. But their faces could not be less similar. The Murderer's is harsh and sneering, while Feferi's is soft and gentle.

"Why?", you ask.

"Why what?" She has the same haughty expressions and coarse voice that became so familiar to you.

"Isn't it obvious?"

The Murderer cackles, and hops the short distance over to your ship. "Do you really think that I was doing this for no reason? Did you think that I was hunting down trolls for the fun of it? In case you didn't know, there's a delicate balance to life on this planet. I make that balance work, when nobody else wants to! You bunch are fucking with things you can never understand! Alternia needs me! All of you need me to keep on existing!"

Feferi is standing next to you, but the Murderer doesn't seem to notice her. Nor does any of her entourage. 

"That doesn't answer the question," you say.

"What? Do you think you're so special that you could escape the cycle of life? I liked you, you know. I did you a favor by ending you quickly before It could! I even made It give you a second chance, and now you're gonna waste it!"

As if on cue, appendages emerge from the water. They are white, spindly things, spike-tipped and covered with spines. They reach higher than the top of the Murderer's vessel. Lasers fire from your ship's guns, their red rays reflecting off the white appendages with no effect.

"Huh. Looks like you won't be getting away this time," the Murderer says with a smirk.

The appendages reach towards you. The water bubbles. Things fall from the sky. Explosions burst in blue flames next to the Murderer's vessel, tearing the spines apart in a shower of white and black. More bombs fall. The appendages disappear, the bubbling ceases. A shadow is cast over both ships.

The Murderer glares at the descending airship. "What are you doing here, Assassin?"

From the airship a figure leaps out, clad in a blue jacket, wearing sunglasses and clutching a sword. "Missed me?", she calls out to the Murderer, as the latter jumps back into her own ship.

And then the Assassin points at you. "Walk away," she tells you. "Or fly away, or boat away, or whatever. It's not too late. This is too big for you." The Murderer glances at you and spits before looking back at her new attacker. "Yeah. Get away," she yells.

"Come on, let's go," Feferi tells you with a tug on your shirt.

You look at Feferi, and retreat with her into the ship's cabin. The ship turns.

Everything will be the same; nothing will ever change.

* * *

"Why didn't anyone see you?", you ask Feferi nights later, after the base is long out of sight.

"You really didn't know?"


End file.
